Leadership for residency?

[wimby2016]

M1 here at a P/F school.

What's the marginal benefit of spending 4-5 hrs peer week for leadership position of a student-run clinic vs. spending that time studying?

I've noticed that successful applicants for basically all residencies have had x number of leadership experiences. I'll become a leader to check that CV box if necessary, otherwise I want to spend most of time studying to crush boards/get good grades. Spending too much time on leadership activities/EC's is my biggest regret of undergrad, so my gut's telling me to f the ECs and just focus on studies.

edit: Well, not totally f the ECs. I'm looking to do research this upcoming summer and beyond.

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[bluejay456]

imo, as an M1 say yes to everything that you find mildly interesting and will sound good on apps. its a great year to really beef up your resume and it will look great later on

 

[mistafab]

Dude, no way.

There is absolutely no "looking better" by being involved in a bunch of meaningless clubs. You may or may not have benefit to running a clinic, but compare that to the real possibility of taking a hit score-wise for your participation. Look up some data. (http://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/NRMP-2016-Program-Director-Survey.pdf)

Ratings of weight per category (top 5) for applicant invite for residency interview
1 -3 most important thing is related to having no red flags
4. (Tie between 2) Commitment to specialty, and grade on rotation
5 (tie between 3). Step 1 score, letters of rec, and passing step 2

Ratings of weight per category for residency ranking selection (top 5)
1 -3 how people liked you the day of the interview
4 - 5 (tie) step 1 score, or if you had a match violation.

imo, as an M1 say yes to everything that you find mildly interesting and will sound good on apps. its a great year to really beef up your resume and it will look great later on

 

[libertyyne]

imo, as an M1 say yes to everything that you find mildly interesting and will sound good on apps. its a great year to really beef up your resume and it will look great later on

Sure, make sure that your grades suffer due to over exerting yourself.

 

[mcloaf]

imo, as an M1 say yes to everything that you find mildly interesting and will sound good on apps. its a great year to really beef up your resume and it will look great later on

This is bad advice.

 

[Crayola227]

just keep in mind, part of "commitment to specialty" can be participation in extracurricular activities, like leadership of your school's specialty interest club

 

[ShaolinMaster]

I don't believe being the leader of "X" interest group matters much when comparing apps. That being said, if it interest you and you have the time, no harm. I know at my school, we have a huge number of clubs that basically do absolutely nothing so I guess it wouldn't hurt to take on the responsibility of absolutely nothing with the hope it pays off.

 

[libertyyne]

Dude, no way.

There is absolutely no "looking better" by being involved in a bunch of meaningless clubs. You may or may not have benefit to running a clinic, but compare that to the real possibility of taking a hit score-wise for your participation. Look up some data. (http://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/NRMP-2016-Program-Director-Survey.pdf)

Ratings of weight per category (top 5) for applicant invite for residency interview
1 -3 most important thing is related to having no red flags
4. (Tie between 2) Commitment to specialty, and grade on rotation
5 (tie between 3). Step 1 score, letters of rec, and passing step 2

Ratings of weight per category for residency ranking selection (top 5)
1 -3 how people liked you the day of the interview
4 - 5 (tie) step 1 score, or if you had a match violation.

The more I look at this data , the more I walk away feeling like it is useless. The ranges on the scale are bunched together, there is probably significant overlap, and without seeing it broken down by actual program it doesn't illuminate much that the actual match applicant data couldnt do. According to this half of all programs thought volunteering was a 3.8 .

 

[Stagg737]

If you're interested do it. If you're not, focus on studying. Now that I'm on the interview trail I can say that I've been asked about "non-academic" aspects of my application at every interview, and PDs seem to look at that more than I thought they would. Keep in mind, this will vary depending on specialty and type of program you're applying to, but I wouldn't spend significant time (or maybe any time) on things you aren't interested in or aren't relevant to your career path.

 

[SouthernSurgeon]

imo, as an M1 say yes to everything that you find mildly interesting and will sound good on apps. its a great year to really beef up your resume and it will look great later on

M1 year is a very valuable year in learning to say “no” to BS.

In residency, research, fellowship, and as a young attending, it’s very easy to become overburdened with crap by being the person who says yes to everything.

Learn to say no. Only volunteer your time to things that have personal meaning to you or are of significant career importance.

 

[Neopolymath]

I'm always confused by these threads. I have literally zero desire to do anything outside of learning and then coming home to my very interesting hobbies and family/friends. I'm not ****ting on anyone, but I find it strange when people don't have anything going for them in their real lives outside of school and then have all these ridiculous school activities. As someone who worked before going to medical school, I certainly know who I would rather speak to all day and as a resident I don't think it would be different. This doesn't even bring up the idea of having kids.

So my issue is that people say don't do anything like this unless you want to, but wouldn't you say most people have stuff like this on their resume (similar to volunteering premed) when they apply for residencies??? So even though you are right in principle, I would stick out like a sore thumb without some stupid extracurricular activity. It seems like a perpetual cycle, but I guess it will be the same as my premed experience. I never had volunteering or more than a day of traditional shadowing or any of that, but had plenty of tangible things to talk about.

 

[Stagg737]

I'm always confused by these threads. I have literally zero desire to do anything outside of learning and then coming home to my very interesting hobbies and family/friends. I'm not ****ting on anyone, but I find it strange when people don't have anything going for them in their real lives outside of school and then have all these ridiculous school activities. As someone who worked before going to medical school, I certainly know who I would rather speak to all day and as a resident I don't think it would be different. This doesn't even bring up the idea of having kids.

So my issue is that people say don't do anything like this unless you want to, but wouldn't you say most people have stuff like this on their resume (similar to volunteering premed) when they apply for residencies??? So even though you are right in principle, I would stick out like a sore thumb without some stupid extracurricular activity. It seems like a perpetual cycle, but I guess it will be the same as my premed experience. I never had volunteering or more than a day of traditional shadowing or any of that, but had plenty of tangible things to talk about.

You need to have something on your residency application other than just your class rank and board scores, it's just that certain things help more than others. If you've got research experience, great. If you're AOA or got a bunch of scholarships/awards, great. If you're a TA or a tutor, or an ambassador or some other position, great. If you don't have those, then being a leader in a club or group adds something to your CV other than the same things literally everyone else has.

Basically, you just want to make sure there something to talk about at the interview other than "Oh, I see your board score is impressive" and "Why this field?" You don't need to be involved in clubs or interest groups at your school, you just need to show you're an actual person with actual interests and hobbies other than "studying for boards". It's why people say to participate if you're interested, and if not then don't (as it'll come out that it was just a checklist thing).